1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to post-tensioning systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to post-tensioning systems having intermediate anchorages. Furthermore, the present invention relates to sealing devices for preventing liquid intrusion into the exposed sections of tendon in the post-tension system.
2. Description of Related Art
For many years, the design of concrete structures imitated the typical steel design of column, girder and beam. With technological advances in structural concrete, however, its own form began to evolve. Concrete has the advantages of lower cost than steel, of not requiring fireproofing, and of its plasticity, a quality that lends itself to free flowing or boldly massive architectural concepts. On the other hand, structural concrete, though quite capable of carrying almost any compressive load, is weak in carrying significant tensile loads. It becomes necessary, therefore, to add steel bars, called reinforcements, to concrete, thus allowing the concrete to carry the compressive forces and the steel to carry the tensile forces.
Structures of reinforced concrete may be constructed with load-bearing walls, but this method does not use the full potentialities of the concrete. The skeleton frame, in which the floors and roofs rest directly on exterior and interior reinforced-concrete columns, has proven to be most economic and popular. Reinforced-concrete framing is seemingly a quite simple form of construction. First, wood or steel forms are constructed in the sizes, positions, and shapes called for by engineering and design requirements. The steel reinforcing is then placed and held in position by wires at its intersections. Devices known as chairs and spacers are used to keep the reinforcing bars apart and raised off the form work. The size and number of the steel bars depends completely upon the imposed loads and the need to transfer these loads evenly throughout the building and down to the foundation. After the reinforcing is set in place, the concrete, a mixture of water, cement, sand, and stone or aggregate, of proportions calculated to produce the required strength, is placed, care being taken to prevent voids or honeycombs.
One of the simplest designs in concrete frames is the beam-and-slab. This system follows ordinary steel design that uses concrete beams that are cast integrally with the floor slabs. The beam-and-slab system is often used in apartment buildings and other structures where the beams are not visually objectionable and can be hidden. The reinforcement is simple and the forms for casting can be utilized over and over for the same shape. The system, therefore, produces an economically viable structure. With the development of flat-slab construction, exposed beams can be eliminated. In this system, reinforcing bars are projected at right angles and in two directions from every column supporting flat slabs spanning twelve or fifteen feet in both directions.
Reinforced concrete reaches its highest potentialities when it is used in pre-stressed or post-tensioned members. Spans as great as one hundred feet can be attained in members as deep as three feet for roof loads. The basic principle is simple. In pre-stressing, reinforcing rods of high tensile strength wires are stretched to a certain determined limit and then high-strength concrete is placed around them. When the concrete has set, it holds the steel in a tight grip, preventing slippage or sagging. Post-tensioning follows the same principle, but the reinforcing tendon, usually a steel cable, is held loosely in place while the concrete is placed around it. The reinforcing tendon is then stretched by hydraulic jacks and securely anchored into place. Pre-stressing is done with individual members in the shop and post-tensioning as part of the structure on the site.
In a typical tendon tensioning anchor assembly used in such post-tensioning operations, there are provided anchors for anchoring the ends of the cables suspended therebetween. In the course of tensioning the cable in a concrete structure, a hydraulic jack or the like is releasably attached to one of the exposed ends of each cable for applying a predetermined amount of tension to the tendon, which extends through the anchor. When the desired amount of tension is applied to the cable, wedges, threaded nuts, or the like, are used to capture the cable at the anchor plate and, as the jack is removed from the tendon, to prevent its relaxation and hold it in its stressed condition.
There are many post-tension systems employing intermediate anchorages where the length of the slab is too long to tension with a single anchor. In these systems, the intermediate anchor is interposed between a live end and a dead end anchor. In the construction of such intermediate anchorage systems, the tendon extends for a desired length to the intermediate anchor. A portion of the sheathing is removed in the vicinity of the intermediate anchor. The intermediate anchor is installed onto a form board in accordance with conventional practice. The unsheathed portion of the tendon is received by a tensioning apparatus such that the tendon is stressed in the area between the dead end anchor and the intermediate anchor. After stressing the tendon, concrete is poured over the exterior of the sheathed tendon and over the dead end anchor and intermediate anchor. The remaining portion of the tendon extends from the intermediate anchor to either another intermediate anchorage or to the live end anchor. Intermediate anchorage systems are employed whenever the slab is so long that a single live anchor extending to a single dead end anchor is inadequate. For example, two intermediate anchorages would be used for slabs having a length of approximately 300 feet.
A problem that affects many of the intermediate anchorage systems is the inability to effectively prevent liquid intrusion into the unsheathed portion of the tendon. Normally, the unsheathed portion will extend outwardly, for a distance, from the intermediate anchor in the direction toward the dead end anchor. Additionally, another unsheathed portion will extend outwardly at the intermediate anchor toward the live end anchor. In normal practice with a single live anchor and without intermediate anchors, a liquid-tight tubular member is placed onto an end of the anchor so as to cover the unsheathed portion of the tendon. This is relatively easy to accomplish since the length of the tendon is minimal at the live end. However, it is a considerable burden to attempt to slide such a tubular member along the entire length of the tendon so as to form the liquid-tight seal at the intermediate anchorage. In normal practice, tape, or other corrosion protection materials, are applied to the exposed portion of the tendon adjacent the intermediate anchorage. Extensive practice with this technique has shown that it is generally ineffective for preventing liquid intrusion into the interior of the tendon or into the interior of the intermediate anchorage. As such, a great need has developed in which to protect the exposed areas of the tendon adjacent the intermediate anchorage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an intermediate anchorage for a post-tension system which facilitates an effective seal over the exposed portion of the tendon at the intermediate anchorage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sealing mechanism for attachment to the intermediate anchorage and a post-tension system which prevents liquid intrusion.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sealing apparatus which facilitates the ability to slide the intermediate anchorage over a length of the tendon.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sealing apparatus which is easy to install and easy to use.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a sealing apparatus which is easy to manufacture and relatively inexpensive.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
The present invention is an intermediate anchorage comprising an anchor member having an interior passageway, a tendon extending through the interior passageway of the anchor member, an elastomeric seal having one end affixed to the anchor member and extending outwardly therefrom, and a rigid ring member detachably received within the opposite end of the seal. The ring member has an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the tendon. When the ring member is combined with the elastomeric seal and the anchor member, the anchor member and the elastomeric seal can easily slide along the length of the tendon to a desired position. The ring member, when removed from the seal, causes the seal to compress upon the tendon in liquid-tight sealing relationship.
The anchor member has a tubular extension extending outwardly therefrom. The seal is affixed to an exterior surface of the tubular extension. The tubular extension has an inner diameter greater than a diameter of the tendon. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tubular extension has a slot formed therein. The seal has a protrusion extending inwardly therefrom so as to engage the slot of the tubular extension. The opposite end of the seal has an elasticity such that the opposite end of the seal has a diameter matching the outer diameter of the tendon when the ring member is detached from the seal.
The tendon has a sheathed portion and an unsheathed portion. The seal will be in compressive liquid-tight contact with the sheathed portion of the tendon when the ring member is detached therefrom. The unsheathed portion of the tendon is fixedly received within the interior passageway of the anchor member. The seal extends over and around the unsheathed portion of the tendon.
In the present invention, the ring member has a body portion with a shoulder extending radially outwardly therefrom at an end of the ring member opposite the seal. The shoulder facilitates the ability to manually remove the ring member from the end of the seal. The body has a tapered end opposite the shoulder. The seal is received around this tapered end.
The present invention is also a method for forming an intermediate anchorage in a post-tension system comprising the steps of: (1) forming an intermediate anchor member having an interior passageway; (2) affixing an elastomeric seal to a surface of the intermediate anchor member such that the seal has an end extending outwardly therefrom; (3) attaching a rigid ring member within the end of the seal so as to expand a diameter of the end of the seal; (4) sliding the anchor member and the seal and the ring member along a tendon until the anchor member is in a desired position; and (5) removing the ring member from the end of the seal such that the end of the seal compressively engages the tendon in liquid-tight relationship therewith. The method of the present invention further includes the step of stripping a sheathing from the tendon so as to form a sheathed portion and an unsheathed portion of the tendon. The seal will compressively engage the sheathed portion of the tendon.
The method of the present invention also includes the steps of affixing the anchor member to a supporting structure, solidifying concrete within the supporting structure, and then tensioning the tendon from an end of the anchor member opposite the seal. The anchor member is encapsulated with a polymeric material so as to form a tubular extension extending outwardly therefrom. The seal is affixed to an exterior surface of this tubular extension. In particular, the tubular extension has a slot formed therein. The seal has an inwardly extending protrusion which engages the slot. The interior passageway of the anchor member and the ring member have an inner diameter greater than the diameter of the tendon. The ring member is formed with a forward end slidably received within the end of the seal and a rearward end having a diameter greater than the forward end.